This invention relates to a copying machine which can reproduce a plural number of copies on a single sheet of paper automatically.
In the prior art, when a plural number of reproduced copies have to be made from a small-sized master (first master) by using a copying machine (for instance from A5 size or from B5 size), in order to save the number of sheets of copy paper, such procedures are usually taken at office that one copy is first reproduced, then the reproduced copy (second master) is placed side by side of the first master on a master table of the copying machine and those two masters are copied simultaneously onto a sheet of paper having a size twice as large as the first master (for instance of A4 size), which will be cut into two later. In this way the consumption of paper will be cut down to a half and the number of counts of copy counter will also be saved by one half.
This procedure, however, is detrimental in that it requires manual labour for reproducing the second master and placing it side by side of the first master on the table. Further, when reproducing the second master, one half of the sheet is wasted. Thus, high conveniency can be assured if this manual operation is replaced with automatic operation by machines. Moreover, high economy and thrift can be attained if the whole area of a paper is fully utilized from the first step of copying.